FOX News has some very bloody live coverage and reports that the death toll has risen to nine. One of the initial reports:
A siren was heard across Haifa Sunday after a Katyusha rocket fell in the area. Security forces said at least 10 Katyusha rockets fell on the Haifa area.Police said eight people were killed and five others were seriously wounded at the train depot. The rescue of the injured is being delayed after many people abandoned their vehicles due to rockets, leaving them on the road to the Rambam hospital.
Elad Savavo of Haifa told Ynet: “The train depot on Hof Shemen was hit. The second strike was in the bay, opposite the oil refineries. There were no sirens before the first barrage. There was a barrage of five rockets and then there were sirens. Immediately afterwards more rockets fell. Large amounts of rescue forces are in the area.
The Katyusha barrage also struck Naharia, Kiryat Bialik (check post), Akko, and Rosh Hanikra.
Broadcast reports say that Israel considers this attack a major escalation:
Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, in opening remarks in a Sunday morning cabinet meeting, said that: “This was a hard morning for all of us. Hard hits in Haifa have been added to the murderous assault in other areas of Israel. This is Hizbullah’s criminal war against the nation and its residents. Israel cannot and will not accept such a thing.”“We have no intention to bend under these threats. They will fail. There will be no time limit. This is a daily struggle and we must respond with calm and decisiveness,” he continued.
If Hezbollah manages to score a hit on a refinery it will get even worse:
Hizbullah announced Sunday morning on its al-Manar television station that it fired Raad-type rockets at Haifa. Eight people were killed and dozens injured in Haifa following the rocket attacks.
The terror group said it would not hesitate to attack the oil refineries in Haifa.
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